Cushion.



0. L. WHETSEL.

CUSHION.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 27, 1915.

1,183,146. Patented Maylfi, 1916.

THE COLUMBIA PLANOCIRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT onnion.

ioHARLEs L. wHE'rsEi, or raw, 01110.

7 CUSHION.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, CHARLnsL. IVHnTsnL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Troy, in the county of Miami and Stateof Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cushions, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to cushions and more particularly that type of cushion commonly employed for auto-mobile seats;

These "cushions usually comprise an up' holstered or padded upper portion which rests upon a series of springs. However, the invention relates to the padded portion of the cushion and may be utilized either with or without the springs. The padded portion of the cushion comprises a cover or top piece which is usually of leather, either real or artificial, and a bottom piece of a suitable fabric betweenwhich and the top piece the upholstering material or padding is confined, the two pieces being fastened together by suitable fastening devices to hold the padding compressed and to tuft the cushion. After the top and bottom pieces have been fastened together it is necessary to attach the edges of the bottom piece to the edges of the top piece. This is usually accomplished by stitching, although in cheaper classes of cushions other means are sometimes employed. The stitching operation is necessarily performed by hand and is slow and difficult of performance. Consequently this one operation consumes a very large per cent. of the time required to construct the cushion.

The object of the present invention is to eliminate this hand stitching operation, thereby cheapening the manufacture of the cushion and increasing the output without deteriorating the quality of the cushion.

To this end it is a further object of the invention to secure to the edgeof the top piece of the cushion a strip which may be stitched thereto before the cushion is padded, and which is adapted to overlap and to be attached to the bottom piece of the cushion after the cushion has been padded and the bottom piece fastened to the top piece; and further to provide an attaching device by means of which the bottom piece 7 Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented luay 16, 1916, Application filed October 2?, 1915. S eria1No.;58,108.

may be first attached to the top piece to hold the padding compressed, and by means of which the strip which has been attached to the top piece maysubsequently be attached to the bottom 'piece.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a fastening device having a plurality of pairs of prongs each pair of which is capable of jseparate manipulation.

In the accpmpanying drawings Figure *1 isa perspective view of the bottom of a partly'completed cushion embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is atransverse sectional view of a cushion embodying my invention, showing the same in the course of'manufacture. Fig.3 is a sectional view taken through one of the fastening devices, showing the same in position in the cushion. Fig. l is a detail view of the double pronged fastening device and Fig. 5 is a detail view of a modified form of the double pronged fastening device.

In these drawings I have illustrated one embodiment of my invention and have shown the same as applied'to a cushion of a well-known type. This cushion comprises a cover or top piece 1 which may be of any suitable material, such as leather or the like. Secured to the under side of this top piece is a bottom piece 2 comprising stock of any suitable character but preferably being formed from a suitable fabric, such as burlap. Confined between the bottom piece and the top piece is the upholstering material or padding 3. Attached to the edges of the top piece 1 are side pieces 4: which, when the cushion is completed, extend downward beyond the padded portion thereof and inclose the springs upon which the padded portion rests.

. In the manufacture of these cushions it is customary to stitch the side pieces 4 to the edges of the top piece by machinery and to then place the top piece in a form, such as that shown at 5 in Fig. 2, which is of a depth approximately equal to the depth of the padded portion of the cushion when the latter is completed. The seams by which the side pieces 4 are connected to the top pieces rest upon the upper edges of the upward extending parts of the form. Arranged within the-form, in properly spaced relation are a series of button holders 6 adapted to receive the head of a tufting button and support the same with its prongs projecting upward. WVhen the top piece of the cushion is placed in the form these prongs extend through the same and the top piece rests upon the button supports 6, which are of a height equal to the depth of the tufting. After the top piece of the cushion has been placed on the form a guide 7 is placed upon the upwardly extending edges of the form and forms an extension of those edges, it being noted that the seams are arranged between the guide and the form proper. The upholstering material 3 is placed within the form and guide in suitable quantities and then the bottom piece 2 of the cushion is placed upon the upholstering material or padding and a compressor board 8 is placed upon the bottom piece. This compressor board is forced down in the guide thereby forcing the padding into the form and consequently into those portions of the top piece 1 which lie between the button supports 6. The compressor board 8 is provided with a series of openings 9 arranged in alinement with the button supports and adapted to permit the passage of the prongs of the tufting button or other fastening device. IVhile the compressor board is in the position a washer is placed about the prongs of the tufting button and these prongs are clenched over the washer to fasten together the top and bottom pieces and to hold the padding compressed when the compressor board is removed. After the compressor board and guide are removed the edges of the bottom piece are drawn over against the correspondingedges of the top piece and are stitched thereto by hand. As will be noted in the drawings, the seam between the side pieces 1 and the top piece, to which the bottom piece must be stitched, comprises several thicknesses of material, consequently the hand stitching operation is a difiicult one.

In carrying out my invention I secure to the edges of the top piece of the cushion a strip of material, similar to that forming the bottom piece of the cushion, and of such width that the free edge thereof will overlap the adjacent edge of the bottom piece. This strip is secured. to the top piece before the latter is placed on the form and is preferably stitched thereto on the machine at the same time the side pieces 4 are stitched to the top piece. I then utilize a two part fastening device to first fasten the bottom piece to the top piece in the manner above described and to then engage the overlapping portion of the strip and secure this overlapping portion to the bottom piece, thus completely closing the bottom and edge of the padded portion of the cushion. As here shown the strip which is secured to the top piece of the cushion, and which is indicated by the reference numeral 10, is stitched to the'outside of the seam but this is not essential to the carrying out of the invention. The fastening device which I use preferably combines within itself the usual tufting button with an additional pair of prongs. In that form of the fasteningdevice shown in Figs. 1 to 4, I have employed the usual two prong tufting button and have combined therewith a washer or attaching plate 11 which carries a plurality of prongs 12, there being in the present instance two of these prongs. This washer or attaching plate is substituted for the usual washer which is placed about the projecting prongs of the tufting button, which is shown at 13, while the compressor board is in position to compress the padding. The prongs of the tufting button are then a bent over this washer to clench the same in position, thus fastening together the top and bottom pieces of the cushion in substantially the usual manner. After the fastening devices have been clenched on the washers 11 the compressor board is removed and the strip 10 drawn over the edges of the cushion and slipped onto the prongs 12 of the washers, which constitute the second pair of prongs of the fastening device. These prongs 12 are then clenched on to the strip and the latter is thus fastened securely to the bottom piece of the cushion and to the top piece as well. Preferably a washer 14: is placed between the prongs 12 before the latter are clenched thus giving the prongs a better hold on the fabric, but this is not essential to the carrying out of the invention. By the use of this double pronged fastening device I am enabled to do away entirely with the hand stitching and the cushion can be manufactured in-a much shorter space of time,

thus reducing the cost and, further, increasing the output. Moreover, I am enabled to use less material in the seams and thus accomplish quite a saving of material which is an important item where real leather is being used. Further, I am able to reduce the size of the bottom piece so that the use of the strip 10 adds but little to the quantity of material required for the bottom piece and as this material is of an inexpensive character, this slight increase is unimportant and does not to an appreciable extent offset the saving effected in the top and side pieces.

The particular form of double pronged attaching device which I have described has certain advantages which make its use desirable, but the attaching device may be constructed in various ways without departing from the invention. The essential feature of the fastening device is that it shall comprise at least two sets of prongs, or fastening parts, which may be manipulated separately to fasten, at different times, different parts. One form of fastening device which is very eflicient and under many conditions might be the preferable form, is shown in Fig. 5. The fastening device there shown is similar to the ordinary tufting button but has two pairs of prongs instead of one pair. In the use of the device the outer prongs would be bent down over the usual washer onto the bottom piece, and the inner prongs would remain standing until the strip 10 has been placed over the same and then they would be clenched onto the strip, a washer being interposed if desired.

It will be apparent from the foregoing description that I have provided a cushion which can be manufactured at a greatly reduced cost and which will have all the strength, durability and desirable qualities of the present cushion which is hand stitched; and it would be further apparent that I have produced in connection with this cushion a fastening device by means of which different parts of the cushion may beindependently connected to the top piece thereof. By combining in a single fastening device the two fastening parts, that is two pairs of prongs, I provide a very compact fastening device and am able to secure the bottom piece, together with the attaching strip, to the top piece of the cushion without passing through the top piece any fastening device other than the tufting buttons. Further, by providing the one fastening device with two pairs of prongs I am enabled to utilize the support for the tufting button as a base upon which to clench both pairs of prongs, thereby enabling the prongs to be very tightly clenched and firm connections to be made.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the details of construction shown and described in this application, as various modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim is new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is Y 1. In a cushion, the combination with a top piece, a bottom piece, padding between said top and bottom pieces, and a flexible strip secured to the edge of said top piece and arranged to overlap the adjacent edge of said bottom piece, of a fastening device having parts extending through said top piece and said bottom piece and connecting said pieces together with the padding compressed between them, said fastening device also having parts to connect said strip to said bottom piece.

2. In a cushion, the combination with a top piece, a bottom piece, padding between said top and bottom pieces, and a flexible strip secured to the edge of said top piece and arranged to overlap the adjacent edge of said bottom piece, of a fastening device extending through said top and bottom pieces and having separately operable parts, one of said parts being adapted to connect together the top and bottom pieces, with the padding compressed between them, and another part of said fastening device being adapted to engage the overlapping portion of said strip and secure the same to said bottom piece.

3. In a cushion, the combination with a top piece, a bottom piece, padding between said top and bottom pieces, and a flexible strip secured to the edge of said top piece and arranged to overlap the adjacent edge of said bottom piece, of a fastening device having two sets of prongs, one set of said prongs serving to connect together the top and bottom pieces, with the padding compressed between them, and the other set of prongs serving to fasten said strip to said bottom piece.

4. In a cushion, the combination with a top piece, a bottom piece, padding between said top and bottom pieces, and a flexible strip secured to the edge of said top piece and arranged to overlap the adjacent edge of said bottom piece, of a fastening device comprising a head having a pair of prongs to extend through, and to fasten together, said top piece and said bottom piece of plate extending about said prongs, adapted to be confined between the same and said bottom piece when the prongs are clenched onto the latter, said plate having a plurality of prongs projecting beyond the outer face thereof and adapted to engage and to be clenched upon said overlapping strip of material.

5. In a cushion the combination with a top piece, a bottom piece, padding between said top piece and bottom piece, and a flexible strip secured to the edge of said top piece and arranged to overlap the adjacent edge of said bottom piece, of fastening devices to connect said bottom piece to said top piece and to connect said strip to said bottom piece.

6. In a cushion the combination with the plurality of layers of material to be connected together, of a fastening device comprising prongs arranged to extend through the first two layers of material and to be clenched to connect said layers one to the other, and also comprising other prongs to extend beyond the first mentioned prongs when the latter are clenched, to extend through a third layer of material, and to prongs projecting therefrom, a Washer to be interposed between said prongs and the part to be fastened When the prongs are clenched, said Washer having prongs projeoting from the outer face thereof to engage another part to be fastened.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signa-v ture hereto.

CHARLES L. VVHETSEL.

Copies 0! this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G. 

